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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27438790">to the moon, stay</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/somerandomindianbloke/pseuds/somerandomindianbloke'>somerandomindianbloke</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, uwu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:54:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,157</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27438790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/somerandomindianbloke/pseuds/somerandomindianbloke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He didn't know her, she didn't know him- they needed each other all the same. Flowerpot! 4th year.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fleur Delacour/Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>to the moon, stay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Big thanks to the folks at the flowerpot discord for going over this and being really supportive.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>We walked to the moon and back,<br/>
Still there’s something amiss with the rivers- they seem so dry.</em>
</p>
<p>I sat out under the stars, enjoying the moonlight. It was all I could enjoy tonight, to be honest. Thinking back to the ball, it could have definitely gone better, but a hand-shaped mark on my cheek could tell you how badly I fucked up. It wasn’t as though I was overtly rude with Parvati or anything, that would actually mean that I talked to her enough to make her feel like I was being rude to her. I do feel like a right, foul git at times.</p>
<p> Keeping my reprehensible behavior with my date aside, it was truly a beautiful night.</p>
<p>The moon shone brightly upon the castle, enveloping the grounds in its silvery light as I could see from where I was sitting. It was a cold night for sure, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted to be in peace.</p>
<p>I couldn’t bring myself to go back up to the dorms, not when I had the option to enjoy such a beautiful, peaceful night. It was far from late, I had time to spend and I’d be damned if anyone tried to stop me. So, while making my escape from the ball I had decided to go to one of the few places that I could associate with freedom and good memories- the quidditch pitch.</p>
<p>As I gazed at the sky, I started humming softly. I’m not adept at singing, not by a long shot- preferring to hum instead. I kept humming notes, kept getting them wrong, and I kept humming them again till I got them right.</p>
<p>I deserved a night off.</p>
<p>A gentle gust of wind brought me back to my senses, shuddering involuntarily, it was getting a bit chilly for me as the night went on.<br/>
It must’ve looked weird for anyone who saw me- a Triwizard Champion sitting in the middle of the quidditch pitch. All alone.</p>
<p>I heard footsteps. Odd, considering the fact that there were actual celebrations going on, and that no one in their right mind would actually walk away from the castle and its main grounds, to the quidditch pitch. I would say that I’m an exception, but evidently- I’m not in my right mind. Merlin knows how many times I’ve talked about how beautiful this night is, already. Obviously, I’ve gone bonkers.</p>
<p>Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure drawing closer. The frantic pace of their steps made me realize no one in their right mind indeed. As the person got closer, they began to seem more and more familiar. I could spot long, silvery hair flowing around, gleaming under the moonlight. I recognized her; she was the Beauxbatons Champion- Fleur Delacour. She seemed disheveled and in panic, desperate even.</p>
<p>She must’ve recognized me too, as she made a bee-line right to where I was sitting, in her eyes an unasked question. I nod, and she sits down right next to me. Fleur was freezing. Her dress, albeit beautiful, didn’t have much functionality in terms of keeping one warm.<br/>
“Here, take it.” I say as I take off my robe and offer it to her, leaving me with a shirt and a vest- the bowtie long disposed of. She gives me a smile filled with relief and gratitude, as she drapes the robe over her body.</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t be out here, you know?” I start off, “It’s rather chilly, you’ll catch a cold.”</p>
<p>Fleur just looks at me in annoyance and makes a rather rude gesture with her hand.</p>
<p>Ouch. So much for the smile.</p>
<p>I wanted to move, give her privacy and get my own, yet I couldn’t bring myself to. I felt whole, complete, as I sat next to her in silence. Fleur covered in moonlight was a sight for sore eyes, glowing ethereally. Her silvery-blonde hair glimmered under the moonbeams. All in all, a captivating sight if there ever was one.<br/>
I couldn’t help but stare, it was hard not to when you have beauty personified right beside you.</p>
<p>Regardless of her beauty, it was obvious that there was something wrong. She wasn’t the confident, alluring champion of Beauxbatons- she was a normal person, a troubled one at that.</p>
<p>It wasn’t appropriate, and I for sure was going to pay for it later, but that didn’t matter right now as I reached out to hold her hand- hoping to provide her some semblance of comfort. She looked askance at the offending hand, but succumbed, choosing to hold it.<br/>
We sat there, hands intertwined until the sunrise, reveling in the comfort we provided to each other. Nothing mattered, all our problems could wait. I didn’t know her, she didn’t know me- but in that moment, she was all I needed- all I wanted.</p>
<p>As the first few rays of sunlight hit us, she shuffled slightly and tightened her grip on my hand.<br/>
The sun began to shine rather brightly after a while, signaling the beginning of a new day. A day that I started with her.<br/>
Abruptly, Fleur gets up while muttering something in French. She looks at me once more, turns around, and then leaves. Just like that. I hoped that the night would last forever, but it never does. Never will.<br/>
But the memory of the night surely would, at least for me.<br/>
With a self-admittedly, loud groan, I get up and start to move too- there was food to make up for the lack of company, of course. On that note, I start to make my way to the castle.</p>
<p>
  <em>And if every single time the sun starts to set,<br/>
You close your eyes and try to forget all the blunders we commit.</em>
</p>
<p>For the next few months, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the sunrise again. All I could think of was that moment, all I could think about was her. I’d still, however, sit at that spot at the time of dusk. Sunsets, for me, are a symbol signifying that an end can be beautiful. They are heart-wrenching, gorgeous, and ever-changing, for no two sunsets are the same.</p>
<p>The days passed me by, as I prepared for the second task and went on with my life. With Cedric’s help, I finally got to know what the task was. It was, however, critically flawed- as what I would sorely miss isn’t tangible. Freedom and comfort cannot be chained up at the bottom of a lake, even if they were able to be detained as they had planned- I’d need to have them before I could think about missing them.</p>
<p>Anyways, life went on until it was February. The second task was rather daunting, because it required us to rescue hostages from under the lake. Thanks to either luck, or a cosmic-asspull, I found help in the form of Neville and Dobby. </p>
<p>Neville with his ever-expanding, too-convenient-to-be-true knowledge of Herbology, had found a plant called ‘Gillyweed’ to help me breathe underwater. Dobby with his ever-expanding, a-bit-too-unsettling-for-me-to-process adoration of me, in tandem with his stupidly broken House Elf magic, procured it. He didn’t tell me where he got it from, and for the sake of plausible deniability- I didn’t ask, either.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, nothing seemed to mess up in my plan- I’d taken gillyweed and was en route to the Merman colony until… I saw her. To be more specific- I saw her struggling against a large gaggle of grindylows. I didn’t know what came over me, my body reacted before I could think it through, and moved to help her out. Although she was heavily injured, she was able to help me out just enough to subdue and defeat the creatures. She did end up passing out, after which I swam to the surface with her in my arms and got her to safety.</p>
<p>Moving forward, I reached the colony to find that I was the last one there.</p>
<p>Ron was there, tied up to a post- unconscious but clearly alive, as I could tell from the bubbles escaping his mouth. Next to him was a small girl, looking vulnerable and scared while also being unconscious. One detail that stuck out to me was her hair- it was the same as Fleur’s.</p>
<p>Now see, I had this ‘defect’, as Hermione would eventually end up calling as my ‘saving-people-thing’. Obviously, it chose this situation to pop up and fuck everything up once again. Yay. After I freed Ron, I moved to free the little girl before being apprehended by the Mermen. Against all odds, I managed to free the child and rushed to the surface- being the last to finish the task.<br/>
As I made my way up to the dock, I saw her. We locked eyes and her eyes showed a myriad of emotions that I couldn’t decipher. The moment I set foot on land; Hermione draped a towel onto me while my classmates were there helping me get up- making sure that I was okay.</p>
<p>Fleur rushed towards me.</p>
<p>Oh boy.</p>
<p>Bracing myself for god-knows-what, I closed my eyes. To my surprise, I found myself enveloped in her arms. She was cold, wet, and she was shaking, but it didn’t matter.</p>
<p>“You saved my sister, even though you didn’t have to.” she started, lightly sobbing, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”</p>
<p>I held her close.</p>
<p>I held her for longer than I expected to.</p>
<p>I held Fleur Delacour for as long as we needed to.<br/>
____________________________________________________________________________<br/>
“He’s back, professor” I shout frantically, desperately grasping for air. I couldn’t breathe, how do I breathe? No. Stop. I need to tell him first, lest I don’t get to.<br/>
“Voldemort, he’s back and he killed Cedric.”<br/>
I knew I needed to say it, but it hurt. It pained me immensely just to think about his death, but to put it into words? It was plain torture.<br/>
Everyone around me burst into panic. They were slowly blurring out, everything was. Even Cedric. Everything was fading to black, must not have had enough oxygen. My mind was filled with the flash of green light that signified leaving one’s own humanity behind, for it was the only color I could perceive. Black turned to green as I vaguely felt a hand make contact with my shoulder.<br/>
I passed out.<br/>
____________________________________________________________________________<br/>
<em>I know you feel the need to,<br/>
I feel it too,<br/>
Your heart is only as strong as mine.</em></p>
<p>After months, I find myself sitting in the same spot as I did on the night of the yule ball, waiting for dawn. The students from the other two schools were going home today, and so was she.</p>
<p>Her mother had visited me in the Hospital Wing once, to thank me once again for saving her daughters’ lives. To tell me that she would always be indebted to me, and if I ever needed anything, I should let her know.</p>
<p>How do I let her know, when what I need is someone that I could never have?</p>
<p>Everything was getting to me- the tournament, what happened at the graveyard, Cedric. It plagued my mind and consumed my thought process.<br/>
I blink. And again. And once more. And… everything went dark.<br/>
Fuck.</p>
<p>After a while, I start to stir and my eyes start to open. To her. Fleur.<br/>
Next to her was the robe that I had given for her to wear that night. Her eyes were gleaming with something that I just couldn’t make out. Oh, and one small detail- she was holding me. She was… holding me?</p>
<p>She was holding me.</p>
<p>“Monsieur Potter, you shouldn’t be out here, you know?” she has this huge grin on her face, “It’s rather chilly, you’ll catch a cold.”<br/>
I jolt up, or try to, rather. I found myself not wanting to leave her embrace, her warmth. I found myself not wanting to leave her. Instead, I relaxed in her arms, subconsciously sinking deeper into her.<br/>
I needed her.<br/>
I needed her to be around, to never leave. I felt whole, I felt wanted. This is where I belonged, and now that I had found it, I was not so willing to let it go.</p>
<p>“It’s lucky that I found you, non? It would be rather disappointing to have our esteemed champion succumb to a cold, of all things.” She said, in a teasing tone. It took a moment to realise that Fleur Delacour was here, with me. Fleur Delacour was holding me. It made me giddy. She made me happy.</p>
<p>I needed to know that this was real, that it wasn’t an illusion. I had to make sure that she knew that I needed her to stay.</p>
<p> I matched her sapphire orbs with my own, looking for something. We stared into each-other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity, until I broke the silence.<br/>
“Stay.”<br/>
She smiled, and held me closer.</p>
<p>
  <em>Cause we can’t resist,<br/>
the temptation.</em>
</p>
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